Malcolm Bailey's Football Blog
The ramblings of a football historian, whose interests lie in the origins of the game and the ups and downs of Spurs and Barnsley FC.
Saturday, 31 October 2026
HAVE A GO AT THE SUN HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!!
Friday, 30 October 2026
Record Attendance and Ups and Downs
30th October 2012
Arsenal were 4-0 down after just 37 minutes of a Capital One (League Cup) tie at Reading but the Arsenal fans weren't despondent and sang 'We're going to win 5-4'. But they were wrong - Arsenal won 7-5.
30th October 1954
A player who perhaps shouldn't have got away with the statement... 'I'm off to the match this afternoon, darling' was Southport's Billy Holmes!! BELOW......Billy has the rare distinction of being one of two men to score a Football League hat-trick on the day they got married. Married in the morning of Saturday 30th October 1954, the afternoon saw him playing for Southport against Carlisle United in a Division 3 North fixture - and he scored a hat-trick in Southport's 4-1 victory. Quite a day for Billy, then!!
Bill Poyntz of Leeds United scored a hat trick and got married on the morning of the same day. Date: February 20, 1922. The Match: Later that day, he scored a hat trick at Elland Road in a 3–0 Second Division victory against Leicester City and might have scored even later in the day!!
AND on October 30th 1937, 68,029 fans turned up for the Second Division match between Aston Villa and Coventry City. (see below) Why so many? Well Aston Villa went on to win the Division .....the Sky Blues just missed out of promotion, managing only fourth place! So there was quite a lot in stake, although some distance from the final placing in the Division!
| DIVISION 2 1937/38 | |||||||||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |||||||||
| Leading League goalscorer: George Henson (Bradford PA) 27 goals The highest ever Division 2 attendance was recorded on Saturday 30th October 1937 when 68,029 were at Villa Park to see Aston Villa draw 1-1 with Coventry City. Despite finishing 12th in Division 2 with 'only' 89 League goals to their name Luton Town finished the 1937/38 season as top goalscorers in the whole of the Football League. Check out their GOALS AGAINST!! | 1 | Aston Villa | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 73 | 35 | 57 | ||||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 82 | 50 | 53 | |||||||
| 3 | Sheffield United | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 73 | 56 | 53 | |||||||
| 4 | Coventry City | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 66 | 45 | 52 | |||||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 76 | 54 | 44 | |||||||
| 6 | Burnley | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 54 | 54 | 44 | |||||||
| 7 | Bradford (Park Avenue) | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 69 | 56 | 43 | |||||||
| 8 | Fulham | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 61 | 57 | 43 | |||||||
| 9 | West Ham United | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 53 | 52 | 42 | |||||||
| 10 | Bury | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 63 | 60 | 41 | |||||||
| 11 | Chesterfield | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 63 | 63 | 41 | |||||||
| 12 | Luton Town | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 89 | 86 | 40 | |||||||
| 13 | Plymouth Argyle | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 57 | 65 | 40 | |||||||
| 14 | Norwich City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 75 | 39 | |||||||
| 15 | Southampton | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 55 | 77 | 39 | |||||||
| 16 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 71 | 80 | 38 | |||||||
| 17 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 49 | 56 | 38 | |||||||
| 18 | Swansea Town | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 45 | 73 | 38 | |||||||
| 19 | Newcastle United | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 51 | 58 | 36 | |||||||
| 20 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 47 | 60 | 36 | |||||||
| 21 | Barnsley | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 50 | 64 | 36 | |||||||
| 22 | Stockport County | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 43 | 70 | 31 | |||||||
Thursday, 29 October 2026
CHEER UP ADRIAN (It's not that important) and SIR ALEX (It's 1,000!)
On this day (October 29th) in 2004, Adrian Mutu (below) was given a punishment that you would not "sniff" at. He was sacked by Chelsea after testing positive for cocaine. Chelsea FC ditched their £15.8m, Romanian striker, who claimed that he had used the drug in order to improve his "sex" life. There were claims that he had lived up to every Transylvanian stereotype by sucking on the blood of his WAG!!
I am writing this as news of the Russell Brand taking "the stand". I leave that up to you to pursue.On a lighter note, at Old Trafford, a year later, as Fergie's "LADS" became the first club to score 1,000 goals since the start of the Premier League in 1992. You would have done well to raise a smile on Sir Alex's face though, as Christiano Ronaldo's injury time goal proved to be the only consolation as opponents Middlesbrough cruised to a 4-1 win.
| Score | 4-1 to Middlesbrough |
| Referee | Alan Wiley |
| Competition | Premier League |
| Venue | Riverside Stadium |
| Attendance | 30,579 |
Wednesday, 28 October 2026
MAX HAS MAXED (OUT)
Presently listening on the Radio, to some issues about the Arsenal youth, Max Dowman, being punished sent off during the Carabao Cup match last night (Oct 27th) between, his club, Arsenal and hosting, Fleetwood Town. The dismissal sparked considerable debate prompting The Gunners to lodge an official appeal with the Football Association The 16th year old midfielder was sent off with. a straight RED in the 85th minute after reacting poorly to a heavy challenge by Fleetwood's Harrison Neal. Although Dowman did not fully kick out, his foot did make contact with Fleetwood's, Neal. Dowman received the first red card of his senior career, following a brawl with Harrison Neal, in the 85th minute.
The match finished 1-1 before League Two Fleetwood beat the Premier League Champions, 5-3 on penalties 5-3. 5,002 watched this game. Fleetwood goalkeeper, Jay Lynch saved Bruno Guimaraes, penalty, The Gunners fourth.
This was Dowman's second red card this month, having been red carded while representing England in an Under 19s international!! Nice one sunshine!! COMPETITIVE??
An attacking midfielder or a winger for Premier League club Arsenal, Dowman was born in Chelmsford and began his youth career at local club Billericay Town, before a move to Arsenal's Academy at the age of five. WHAT NEXT??
Tuesday, 27 October 2026
ARSENAL AWAY AT HIGHBURY!! (Apologies for "cross overs!")

Fleetwood Town
v Arsenal
at Highbury Stadium
English League Cup Tie tonight 8pm...YES Arsenal play away! Do you know where Fleetwood is? Worth researching its history!
Form guide All competitions most recent
Skip back to season so far| Fleetwood Town Nicknames |
|
|---|---|
| Short name | The Town |
| Founded | 1908 (118 years ago) called Fleetwood 1928 (98 years ago) (as Fleetwood Windsor Villa, later just Fleetwood) 1977 (49 years ago) (second reformation as Fleetwood Town) 1997 (29 years ago) (third reformation Fleetwood Wanderers) |
| Ground | Highbury Stadium!!! |
| Capacity | 5,327 (2,672 seated) |
| Fleetwood Chairman | Jamie Pilley |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Matt Lawlor |
| League | EFL League Two |
| 2025–26 | EFL League Two, 15th of 24 |





